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July 9, 2014:

THE WONDERFUL, MAGICAL DAYS AND NIGHTS OF PACIFIC OCEAN PARK

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, before we get to Ye Olde Notes, I have some videos to share.  Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, have some videos to share.  These actual videos are from the actual Kritzerland show from Sunday, our tribute to Off-Broadway.  So, for your mental delectation, first up our opening number, Born to Entertain, performed by the uber-talented Brennley Brown.

Wasn’t that fun?  Here’s the wonderful Jenna Lea Rosen doing the sweetest version of Frank Mills you’ll ever hear.  This girl just keeps getting better and better and she was great to begin with.

Wasn’t that lovely?  Next we have the delightful Maddy Claire Parks doing the delightfully delightful Look for a Sky of Blue from Little Mary Sunshine.

Wasn’t that adorable?  Now we have them demented and mad genius Jason Graae having his way with The Moment Has Passed from Parade.  Nobody does it like Jason.

Wasn’t that brilliant?  And finally here’s Sami Staitman doing a great The Boy from… from The Mad Show.

Wasn’t that adorable?  And thus ends the entertainment portion of these here notes.  Now we get down to the dreary stuff – my life!

Yesterday was another nice day.  I got almost eight hours of sleep, had an important telephonic call, answered e-mails and did some work on the computer and then went to my lunch meeting at Jerry’s Deli.  The meeting was with musical director Joshua Eli Kranz, just to go over everything we’ll be fixing at Saturday’s pick-up session.  I think we’ve got it all down now.  A few minutes after sitting down and ordering, the guy in the booth next to me, an older gentleman, saw his friend entering the restaurant and trying to find him, and he yelled quite vociferously, “Mike!”  Mike saw him and came and sat down.  As soon as I saw Mike I realized it was Mike Connors, Mannix himself.  He said hello to his friend and they talked for a minute, then he glanced over at our booth.

I looked over at him and smiled and nodded, and he smiled and nodded back and said, “Hi.”  I then took the bull by the horns and leaned over and told him something I’ve always hoped I could tell him but never had the opportunity: When I was a young actor and got my very first TV job, guest starring on an episode of The Young Lawyers, that I arrived at the studio, which happened to be Paramount, in the wee small hours of the morning.  I was running lines in my head, very nervous, and as I walked towards the soundstage where we were shooting, I looked up and there was Mike Connors, Mannix himself, walking toward me jauntily.  He looked over to me, smiled and waved, and that little smile and wave made me feel like a million bucks and like I was really welcome in this new world I was entering.  I never forgot it, and I wrote about it in There’s Mel, There’s Woody and There’s You.

He listened to my Reader’s Digest version of the story, smiled that same smile and seemed pleased to hear what I’d said, as did his lunch companion.  So, that was a very special moment for me.

Our meeting went well and I had a really good chicken salad sandwich with bacon on it – it’s my new favorite sandwich at Jerry’s.  Then I came home, then walked to the bank to do some banking.  Then I went to the mail place and picked up several packages and one nice piece of mail – the refund from UPS for the lost package – finally!  Then I came home.

One of the packages contained a new and lovely hardcover book – the history of Pacific Ocean Park, from the early days as Lick Pier, to the days I remember as Ocean Park Pier where my grandfather had a roulette wheel stand, to POP.  The book is exhilarating, fun, heartbreaking, and chock full of incredible photographs, including several views of the Hotel St. Regis, where my grandparents lived.  There are also several photos of the two high-rise apartment buildings they erected when the St. Regis and other nearby buildings were torn down.  The fact that I lived in one of those high-rises (The Shores) back in the late 80s all the way into the late 90s, is one of those weird little life things.

There were also some photographs of Ocean Park Pier, three or four that were so frustrating – they’re all facing the back of the Dome movie theater and they’re all aimed to the right side of that promenade.  Had they just turned the camera to the left side we would have seen my grandfather’s Wheel-O stand and the Vanilla Custard Ice Cream stand.  Oh, well.  In any case, the book is highly recommended by the likes of me.  I then had to make some notes on a document, which I did, after which I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched two motion pictures on Blu and Ray.  The first motion picture was entitled The Time Machine, a movie I have dearly loved since the day it came out – I saw it at my beloved Stadium Theater.  And I loved it all over again last night.  Part of the reason the film works so well even now is the performance of Rod Taylor, who is just wonderful in his role.  The same holds true for the performance of Alan Young, and Yvette Mimieux, well, let’s just say I had a HUGE crush on her.  Also, the music score by Russ Garcia is terrific and helps the film immeasurably.  The transfer has confused the usual suspects – they don’t think it’s much better than a DVD.  They base this, of course, by looking at screen caps.  I compared the DVD to the new Blu-ray and it’s night and day – the Blu-ray looks fantastic.  The film has always leaned to the brown side of things in the first half – the production design is all in browns.  I think that was done on purpose so that the later scenes in the future would have pastel colors that really were a whole different feel from the first part of the film.  The color is terrific, there’s a lot of detail but there are also a lot of opticals, so less during those sections.  It’s all marvelously entertaining and the Blu-ray is highly recommended by the likes of me.

I then watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Point Blank.  In 1967, Point Blank was a very radical film – there had never been anything quite like it, and even watching it today, with as many rip-offs as there’ve been (none even approaching the brilliance of Point Blank, including its horrid remake), the film remains fresh and weird and one-off.  Most of that is due to director John Boorman.  I’m a fan of many of Mr. Boorman’s films, but, for me, none of his subsequent films quite attains the magic and uniqueness of Point Blank.  Lee Marvin’s performance is so interesting on so many levels because one can take the film any number of ways.  Angie Dickenson is terrific, as is John Vernon, Keenan Wynn, Lloyd Bochner and especially Carroll O’Conner – but even the smallest roles are performed to perfection.  One continually feels a little off-balance whilst viewing Point Blank – it’s just a visual stunner and it’s hypnotic in its storytelling.  The Blu-ray is fantastic – just a great transfer that serves Mr. Boorman and his cameraman beautifully.  The Johnny Mandel score comes through wonderfully and again this is highly recommended by the likes of me.

I also keep forgetting to mention a movie I watched the other day, entitled Me and Orson Welles.  It’s not a great film – it kind of wants to be My Favorite Year and never quite achieves it.  But the actor playing Mr. Welles is great, and Claire Danes is also wonderful in it.  Zach Braff plays the young man who comes to act in Mr. Welles’ Mercury Theater production of Julius Caesar.  If the subject matter interests you, it’s worth a viewing.

After all that, I just relaxed, listened to music, and had a couple of telephonic conversations.

Today, I must write liner notes, I must eat, I must hopefully pick up some packages, I must do some banking, and I must relax.

Tomorrow night I’m going to the Hollywood Bowl with the Staitman family.  I can’t even remember what we’re seeing, but I always enjoy the Bowl – I used to go there frequently in the 1970s, but have only been twice in the last twenty years.  Friday night I’m going to the opening of Always Patsy Cline.  Saturday is our pick-up session for And the World Goes Round, and Sunday we’ll be trying to finish the mix of same.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write liner notes, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, bank, and relax.  Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like.  So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall hopefully dream of Pacific Ocean Park and that short but magical time.

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